Smaller Tools, Bigger Execution

Learnings from 20 Days Working only with an iPad and iPhone

Touching down into Pointe-A-Pitre airport in the late evening, I was nervous but excited for the 19 days ahead in the butterfly island of the Caribbean. Guadeloupe is a strictly French speaking Island with little English, little nightlife, but largely amazing beaches and nature. It was the perfect place to work in the mornings, hike and visit the beach by day, and then hustle more in the evening. I had two projects prepared for completion during my stay, and brought most of my gear for the grind ahead.

That evening, I settled in to the jungly sugar plantation AirBnB room we rented, and just Netflix and chilled for a bit. About halfway through “The Giver” movie (not very good) my battery was flashing at about 50% on Old MacDonald (my Mac’s name), and I went to fish out my charger from my bag. Sifting through the clothing, I looked.

And looked.

And continued to look.

No way.

“NO!” my mind screamed, followed by my actual scream.

I couldn’t have just isolated myself on a sleepy Caribbean island, prepared nearly 3 weeks of just work and beach, and left at home my charger for the one piece of equipment I ultimately needed to actually work! Sitting down with a heavy sigh, I researched my options on my iPad (which I could charge), and ruminated on my options: 1) Lose a day of activities and spend $150 to replace the cable with a European version, or 2) use my existing resources, an iPad mini 2 and iPhone 5.

“Problems are hidden opportunities, and constraints can actually boost creativity.” — Martin Villeneuve

“The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one’s self. And the arbitrariness of the constraint serves only to obtain precision of execution.” -Igor Stravinsky

I saved myself $150, accepted the challenge, and attempted to rely only on my handhelds for the next 3 weeks of grinding and exploring.

The constraints were many; weaker internet connectivity, severely decreased processing power, much lower storage available, and certain applications and programs being completely inaccessible. Can’t forget to mention I had no keyboard available too. Silver linings existed though; there weren’t as many distractions with limited internet and it was easier to work anywhere (even directly on the beach). A sadness dwelt in me realizing how stupid I was to leave the charger, yet a budding excitement flourished for the opportunities to get creative with a smaller toolbox.

Unearthed Benefits:

What I assumed would be setbacks, turned out to actually be great opportunities to flex vital work habits:

• The limited internet connectivity reduced distraction amazingly and encouraged me to treat my time with greater sensitivity. I was laser focused with web destinations, and if I was researching something, I would actually sit and think for a moment on how to focus my results, before simply opening a million tabs and reading. When a screen was loading, it had my complete attention.
• Decreased processing power forced me to do one thing at a time, a rarity in today’s overclocked world. Interestingly, it was actually difficult for me to adjust to this, and I realized that when I only had Notes open to type something, I was only in that application working and would complete my task, start to finish.
• Lower storage limits had a huge spillover effect into my selectivity when taking photos and video for content. Typically, a digital photographer/videographer can takes hundreds of photos a day and minutes/hours of footage. With only about 15GB between both devices, this was a major difference in approach on what content to keep and how to split it between devices. My eye and decision making for what to keep and what to pass improved greatly and probably let me enjoy the trip more without taking my camera out every minute.

Top Apps For Getting It Done:

When I didn’t have access to MS Word, Final Cut Pro, Snagit, or any of my usual tools, I had to improvise and look up which apps would help me the most. Here’s a list of the top apps that helped me write, edit photos and videos, and store data:

• Medium App let me write easily and effectively just like the desktop version
• Notes App gave me a starting place to write ideas then transfer to Medium
• Font Candy allowed me to use attractive copy and fonts on photos I was taking
• VSCO gave me great tools to edit photos
• Filmic Pro was necessary for awesome video control while shooting
• iMovie app let me edit, add titles, music, and export videos
• Google Drive let me upload storage to my 100GB google drive
• Skype app gave me the ability to still take calls
• Slow Shutter Cam let me take low light and great looking light trail photos
• AirBnB App let me manage reservations and field messages while gone
• Email app within Iphone — sorry Gmail App, but you suck!

Conclusion:

It was surprising to discover that a lot can be accomplished with only an iPhone and iPad at your disposal. An awesome side effect of being limited to these is increased focus, creativity, and laser like decision making to use time more effectively. Though unintended, it can be an interesting and great experience to laptop detox with the digital handhelds, and you should try it.

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